Fall and Family Photos

For Columbus Day this year, we were lucky enough to visit Spearfish Canyon to view the leaves and to take some family pictures! (We need a new one because our most recent one depicts Jonah only about 6 weeks old). For those of you who live near beautiful canyons and fall leaves, say in Cedar City, Logan, or Washington....you don't realize how lucky you are!

Reading on Facebook about everyone else going out on leaf-viewing jaunts was really getting me jealous. I was so glad that we had this place within a 2-3 hour drive, so we could at least see some foliage once before winter. Sadly, we missed the peak of the fall leaves, but we were still happy to be there. We mostly drove around, but we did find a few spots to stop. There was a lodge where we found picnic tables to eat our lunch, and where we took our first pictures.

 I was really annoyed that we got there at the worst time of day to take pictures- between 11AM and 2PM, but despite all our efforts we couldn't really get there any other time, so we tried to make the best of it. The sun was too bright, and it looks warm, but really it was pretty cold! Most of the time the temperature hovered around 55F, with a breeze that made it even colder. This was another factor that made our picture-taking adventure a little hard, as we all had coats and the baby had a blanket that we had to take off for the pictures, then quickly put back on before everyone froze.

The pictures we took of our family in this location are probably the best in regard to our facial expressions and layout. I know this in my mind, but somehow they are not what I wanted...maybe because of the fine trimmed lawn instead of the forest floor beneath our feet? Also, the super bright light washed out the leaves and grass in the foreground too much for my liking. Still...all the people look good! We got tons of useable shots here, but these are the two best:

A lot of the mountain was forested with only pinetrees, and many of the quakies had already shed their golden leaves, which I would have loved for a background. We also forgot our baby carrier so we couldn't go on any extensive hikes in search of better spots, but we did find one trail that we ventured down a bit. I would have liked to go further, but the designated baby holder (Joseph) didn't think that was a good idea.

There was a short trail where you could view a pretty waterfall, and this is where most of the tourists were walking around. We found a side trail that led on a much longer trek to another parking lot, and it had fewer users, so we walked down that way to find a place to take more pictures. 

The very first attempt was horrible, as the sun was too much on our faces and washing us out. Plus, for this and all subsequent photos, I forgot to have Joseph take his glasses off! They're transition lenses, so it wasn't something we thought about. Oh yeah, and Jonah still has is coat..basically, there was way too much wrong with these:

When I realized how bright the light was, I moved us just off the trail in the same spot , just facing the other way. This location is exactly what I wanted, in terms of the leaves covering the ground all around us, and the variation in the way we're standing. I even like the camera flare in the top right corner. Except...how did Josh get back there? And yes, this is the best expression he had out of all of them. Plus, hello crying baby, and Elora's weird expression. I was very sad that we didn't look that great, because really, I would love this place hanging on my wall. :(

I could tell the kids were getting bored with pictures, and daddy was getting tired of constantly removing the baby's blanket and hat then putting them back on. So we walked just a short way down the trail for one more group of shots. I really like this location too, and the fact that we're not all just standing there. I wish tere was more fall color evident in the shot, and I don't like the bright light shining on the trail on the righthand side. But all the kids look pretty good, right? In fact, the only thing I don't like about the people is Joseph's dark glasses again.

So none of these were exactly what I wanted. I would have loved to stay longer and wait for the light to get more pleasant, or even go exploring more, but I don't think the rest of the fam would have been on board with that. The baby needed to eat, the toddler needed a nap, and so did the daddy. Not to mention that after grocery shopping (which we always have to do when we're near a city) and dinner, we wouldn't get home until ten that night even at this point, when it was around 2PM.

As it is, I'm having a hard time deciding between these. My mom likes this last one the best. I like our faces the best in one of the first ones, the location in the one with the lens flare, and the way we're sititng in this last one. I have to say though, Jonah did an awesome job of smiling big in every picture!

So, which would you choose?